When an Ambassador is a Friend

By COLlive reporter

Eyebrows were raised this past Shabbos at TheSHUL of the Nation’s Capital at the Chabad-Lubavitch Center in Washington, DC.

Israel’s Ambassador to the USA Ron Dermer and his wife Rhoda, along with one of their sons, arrived at the synagogue during the service, and it soon became apparent this was somewhat exceptional.

They have often been seen there before, along with many other dignitaries such President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, who attend with their family, as well as ambassadors and members of Congress.

But this was the first time the Ambassador had been seen there on a Shabbos. They live in a secure compound in the Maryland suburbs, outside Washington, DC, and they are Shomer Shabbos.

Congregants wondered whether the Dermers stayed somewhere downtown, but it later became apparent that they walked from their home (!) in order to participate in the Shabbos Bar Mitzvah celebration of Aron Shemtov, son of TheSHUL’s rabbi and senior shliach to Washington, DC, Rabbi Levi Shemtov and his wife Nechama.

After the special luncheon following services ended, the Dermers returned to their home in Maryland. Now that’s commitment, to friends and to Shabbos.

When one of the security team, who followed on foot, was asked how he could endure the more than 12 mile walk (about 20 km), he responded, “What? When I was initiated into the Golani (brigade of the IDF) we had to walk 5 times as much, and with a bag weighing 12kg.”

A real kiddush Hashem.